


mindful ; mind full

by likeabomb



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: M/M, Mindfulness For Mutant Appearances, Support Group, Violence Against Mutants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeabomb/pseuds/likeabomb
Summary: Japheth is always glad to see Jono when he shows up to their support group. He comes away with more than usual this time.
Relationships: Jono Starsmore/Japheth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	mindful ; mind full

**Author's Note:**

> Based off the Mindfulness For Mutant Appearances support group meeting seen in Domino Annual short story "Domino & the RejeX" with minor tweaks to who was present, being a different instance of that meeting.

Holding half a sandwich up, Japheth huffs a laugh at Meany munching away. Soft bread, crisp cucumbers, turkey and cheese. Eany on his opposite shoulder squirms angrily, butting her side against his face.  
  
“You’re gonna wait your turn, doll,” Japheth scolds gently, “We’re in polite company, behave.”   
  
She stares at him with her big eyes and he knows she’s upset with him- he can feel it through the psychic rapport they share, but he stands his ground. When Meany is done, he picks up another half sandwich off the tray and offers it to Eany for being patient. The bug sinks her impossible teeth in and Japheth sucks his teeth, “Not the fingers.”   
  
“How are the girls, Maggott?”   
  
Turning with a smile, Japheth stops short to see Kurt, reaching to scratch along the segment of Meany’s side, “Just fine. Impatient as ever. Howzit?”   
  
Kurt smiles in return and it warms Japheth in a way he’s never really been able to put word to. It makes him want to smile, too. “I’m doing quite well! I’m glad it’s finally Wednesday. I’m always glad to see everyone.”

“Basically what we look forward to every week. Ain’t that right, ladies?”  
  
The two maggots perched on his shoulders stare at Kurt with three big deep red eyes each. Kurt smiles and lifts a hand to gently rub the edge of their head segments, one at a time.   
  
“Happy to have you here. All three of you.”   
  
Kurt moves away to talk to another member of the little group, and by the way people move, Japheth knows it’s about time to start. He brushes crumbs off his shirt from his messy eaters and slides into one of the chairs to get comfortable.

The creak of the door has him glancing over his shoulder and a smile curling at his lips to see Jono walking in late. 

Japheth melts a little to see him- he’d almost thought he wouldn’t show this week- but Jono’s never missed a single meeting, even if he’s shown up late to a few. Seeing his face each week is just as reassuring as it is seeing Kurt and Domino’s.  
  
The room is the creak of metal chairs, the scrape of concrete. It’s coffee sitting on the hot plate too long, and a nervousness that runs deep, even in a place carved out of the city just for them.

Mindfulness For Mutant Appearances is a weekly meet, moved up from a biweekly meet after a rise in targeted crime against visible mutants. It’s not a fix by any means, but it’s a safe space for people to come once a week and vent their frustrations and workshop ideas to help each other stay as safe as possible.

“Alright, mantra for us, Eye Boy?” Kurt asks, after everyone’s settled in.

“When I look to humans to dictate who I should be or how I should look, I reject who I am. I deserve to be alive. I look exactly the way I should. I am exactly who I’m supposed to be.”  
  
“Very good, thank you!” Kurt smiles, clasping his hands together, his tail waving behind him. “We’ve got a new member today, one I’m hoping will be here with us for a while. Would you like to introduce yourself?”

To Kurt’s left a woman rolls her eyes fondly and pulls her hood back and shakes out a full natural hair with a shock of white in the front. She smiles the same warmth for the group that Kurt brings. Japheth likes her already.

“Mornin’ guys, my name’s Rogue. I’m Nightcrawler’s sister.”  
  
A couple members exchange a somewhat skeptical look, but she’s got a keen eye, and she catches it. Just like Kurt catches it and gives the group a little disapproving look at their judgement.   
  
“Nightcrawler and I have the same momma.”   
  
She doesn’t elaborate on how much or how little blood there is in their family, because family is family, and they’re brother and sister, regardless of blood. Dealing with Mystique for a mother forges them in the fire all it’s own. With a southern accent and a warm smile like Kurt’s, Japheth is already glad she’s here.

“Rogue here finally decided to start coming along to the meetings with me,” Kurt explains, setting a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t figure for a while there it’d be a good idea, I don’t look any different than most of the humans on the street, but my mutation gets a lot of attention even when I don’t want it to, and I figure, hell, I deal with it on the daily, no escapin’ it, and not a lot of hidin’ it.”  
  
She shrugs her shoulder and Kurt gives it a little squeeze to reassure her.   
  
“So what do you _do_? What can’t you hide? You seem fine to me,” Todd speaks up from across the circle, crouched on his chair in the most comfortable position. He himself has a lot of features of a toad he can’t hide, from the green pallor and patches of rough swamp green smattered across his face and arms, he has webbing between his fingers too. He’s also one of the more vocal, and not always so careful with his words.

“One touch, skin to skin, can put somebody in a coma. Transference of memories, and with other mutants, powers. It’s dangerous around anyone, but especially humans, so I can’t have accidental brushes of skin. Ever.”  
  
“That’s jank,” Todd pouts a little, “Sorry, girlie.”

Rogue levels him with a look and he ducks his head, looking away with wide eyes and high brows.  
  
Kurt shakes his head, “Alright, no more grilling each other. This is an open meeting, not simply for visible mutants, but for anyone whose powers are something that can and does draw attention. Attention is generally dangerous. That’s enough to be able to see solidarity among peers.”   
  
“We can’t all be telepaths,” Barnell chirps, shaking his head a little.

He doesn’t comment on it, because he understands the frustration. Mutants with visible or difficult mutations that make their day to day lives harder to navigate for something they were born into have every right to be angry and upset with people who are lucky enough to be gifted with safety. The privilege of an invisible mutation is something a lot of them take for granted, and it’s not as often as they should that they speak up and out in defense of visible mutants.

“As always, I want to start by talking about whether or not anyone has had any trouble over the last week, with our mutations, or with humans. And if so, were you able to reach out to someone about it?”

It’s clear Kurt has been doing this for a while, not just in this context, but helping people in group settings. Japheth can’t place what he thinks he might have run before this, but he’s glad this space exists now, because they sorely need it.

“Anole is still in the hospital,” Roxanne speaks up from the side, shifting in her seat a little. Her arms are crossed and she’s pouting a bit, but there’s real hurt in her eyes. “Glob won’t come til he’s out.”

Nodding slowly, Kurt sighs gently, “All we can do right now is let him rest and heal. He’s not going to have to worry about the medical bills, which I hope means he’ll be able to focus more on his recovery.”

Japheth moves a hand to rub his neck, feeling a tightness there at the tough topic at hand. Eany makes a quiet little annoyed noise and he huffs at her.  
  
Next to him, Jono cocks his head to the side before offering a hand. Seeing the movement out of the corner of her farthest eye, Eany turns her face and more than happily moves from Japheth’s shoulder to Jono’s arm and climbs up it to his shoulder to bury her face in his hair.

The quiet sensation of his telepathic laughter ghosts across Japheth’s mind and sends goosebumps down his arms.

“Maggott, did you want to talk about what happened on Saturday? You texted me about it, but if you wanted to talk…” Kurt offers the circle.

Attention pulled from Jono and his girls, he glances around the circle, offering a little smile, “Wasn’t that big’a deal. Some humans got in my face, donnered their asses good, got kicked outta the bar.”

Kurt watches him from across the circle, big yellow eyes glowing.

Japheth relents, “Alright, alright,” he sucks his teeth, “I got invited out for drinks by a mutant from work, I don’t think they were thinkin’ about it, I said what the hell, right? I went out. Didn’t do any drinkin’ because I _can’t_. The girls were gettin’ rowdy, they get nervous and antsy with a lotta people, and I can’t control them comin’ and goin’. They do what they do.”   
  
Jono pulls a jolly rancher out of his pocket and offers it to Eany, wrapper and all, and she chirps before crunching into it. Japheth throws him a look and Jono looks away innocently.

“Somebody got in my face, a lotta kak about mutants and my dolls and- you know, posturin’. Actin’ like a big man,” Japheth rolls his eyes, “His buddies backed him up, I knocked their heads in and got kicked out.”

“What happened with your coworker?” Rogue asks, and glances to Kurt to make sure she was following circle protocol and everything.  
  
Huffing a laugh, Japheth shrugs the shoulder Meany isn’t settled on, “Not a clue. Mysteriously lost ‘em after I got kicked out. Saw ‘em at work Monday, haven’t said two words to each other.”

“Dude, that’s major shit,” Todd croaks from his side of the circle, “Figures though, right?”

_“It’s so weird, how nobody knows how to mind their own damn business.”_

Jono’s telepathic voice washes over the members in the circle and those used to it look to him as easily as they would anyone else talking. He doesn’t say anything else, though, and visibly shrinks a little in irritation.

“Did you want to elaborate on that, Chamber?”

By his body language it’s fairly clear he doesn’t, but he stares across at Kurt, squinting a little and Japheth knows he sees that as a challenge, regardless of the fact it’s definitely not.  
  
 _“The number of times I’ve had flatscans change how they talk to me when they think I can’t speak is- bloody ridiculous? They get slower and louder like they think I’m daft. My ears work fine, and even wrapped up- some people just don’t want to talk to strangers. Get bent, mate.”_   
  
Kurt smiles gently, brows arching, “Do you think it’s different to how they treat members of the deaf or mute community?”   
  
_“Probably not, but it don’t feel great. I don’t talk with ‘em like- well, like I do now, because I don’t need to be outed as a mutant when I’m already physically a freak.”_   
  
“Jonothon,” Kurt warns.   
  
Rolling his eyes hard, Jono shakes his head slightly, _“Whatever, Kurt.”_

Typically when addressing each other within the group, they use their mutant names, because it gives a deeper sense of community within people who definitely can and _do_ have trouble connecting with those even in their own circles sometimes.   
  
“This is a safe space for all of us, and when you call yourself a freak, by proxy, are you not calling the rest of us freaks? We’re all here in solidarity, after all.”   
  
_“Ain’t it the truth, though? Why’s it gotta be a bad thing? We’re freaks. Even among other mutants. Why do you think we’re getting together for a feelings jam? For fun?”_

The bitterness and self loathing that radiates off the voice is razor sharp. He’s not _wrong_ , but it’s still hard to hear. Not everyone wants to dig their heels in and try to take back the way humans have weaponized their prejudice.

Kurt closes his eyes and breathes deeply, in, and then out, and turns his face when he opens his eyes again.

He addresses someone else, and the group goes on.

Japheth doesn’t hear most of it. His thoughts are on what Jono had said, and how he knows how he can get. Meany shuffles over his shoulder to get closer to Jono, and seeing her out of the corner of his eye, Eany still perched happily, he digs out another piece of candy to offer it to her.   
  
In Japheth’s mind alone, Jono’s words rumble, _“Can’t be treatin’ ‘em different. Wouldn’t be fair.”_

Knowing Jono can’t read his thoughts, only project his own, Japheth doesn’t try, and instead offers a smile, at least _pretending_ like he’s paying attention to the meeting happening around them, and he knows that his smile alone helps to curb the sharp edges of irritation and annoyance that Jono projects. He’s got a lot to be upset about. Even among visible mutants he can sometimes be one of the most visible, and dangerous if there’s ever an accident. Japheth doesn’t blame him for how he feels.

Especially because he understands why, at least in part. Emma Frost called Jono and Angelo and himself freaks. It happens all the time. Visible mutants are treated like shit among mutants who can get by without the immediate danger. Especially by those who have a way of altering minds. There’s no danger if you just tweak a few things in a few fragile minds, right?

The rest of the meeting goes well, talking about things happening and how best to look after each other and themselves. It’s standard for their weekly get together, but it’s still worth it to come every week.  
  
When Kurt wraps up with the same mantra from the beginning repeated, Japheth stands, and seeing Eany asleep in Jono’s lap, he leans over to pick up his chair and fold it to hang it on the stand. Kurt’s hand squeezes his shoulder as he wanders about thanking people for coming and giving last words of encouragement for the week, and Japheth offers an arm to scoop Eany from Jono’s arms after he’s stood up too.   
  
“Thanks, maat, she’s the troublemaker, I swear.”   
  
_“She’s no bother, Japheth.”_   
  
She wakes enough that when he sets her on the shoulder opposite Meany, she clings and goes motionless again, drifting off. They don’t have eyelids, but when they’re asleep they tend to curl up a little and go still. It’s easier for Japheth to tell, considering he can feel their minds.   
  
“They’re gonna want some grub after this, but uh- we’ll see you next week?” Japheth hums, looking Jono over a little.   
  
There’s a sparkle in Jono’s eye as he does the same and half turns to the door, hands in his pockets. He tilts his head in a little nod and the way his mind brushes against Japheth’s makes him giddy.   
  
_“It’s a date.”_   
  
Japheth is left reeling a little, but by god if that’s not a good feeling.


End file.
